But pushing “drug legalization” because of money problems cannot be a desirable direction. Even major US media say the loosening of regulations on “evil industries” like drugs and gambling is a dark aspect of American society. If you open the gate on marijuana, there’s no reason to believe there won’t be calls to permit even more addictive drugs. If one sees how there is already a study that says if the United States legalizes all drugs, it could raise an extra US$43 billion a year, this cannot be regarded as simple alarmism.

Related

Are there drugs that are “more” addictive, controlling for the novelty effect, than alcohol and tobacco?

Bob Bobbs

Well..both of them will kill you. But there are ‘worse’ drugs out there.

http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal ZenKimchi

And dude’s getting his cues from 1980s Nancy Reagan talking points. I think the slippery slope argument for pot is so retro.

Sanshinseon

Indeed. total ignorant BS, here. marijuana is barely ‘addictive’ at all; much less so than many legal psychotropics. It should be legalized because in never should’ve been illegalized in the first place. The great financial benefits (including letting all those innocent people out of our prisons & legal system) would just be a bonus.

SomeguyinKorea

The notion that marijuana is a gateway drug is a myth.

SomeguyinKorea

Worse in terms of how many deaths they cause each year? No.

Scott N

Sperwer, I believe heroin is more addictive but nothing tops sugar.

PortaJohn

Pot is not physically addictive.. period. I’m so tired of this crap.

http://profiles.google.com/dcmusicfreak DC Musicfreak

Is there really that much difference in quality between The Global Times and The Chosun?

que337

Addiction is defined as “chronic substance use leading to physical and psychological dependence, development of tolerance, feelings of loss of control over use, and a significant amount of time devoted to procuring the substance.” Cannabis might not cause “physical dependence,” but psychological dependence and other side effects are inevitable.

The smartest things for Korea to do is to observe the social costs from the legalization of cannabis in the US and learn from them.